Marie Lukasik Wallace ~ # I LIVE Poetry – I'm passionate about life and writing and all things creative and poetic!

Category Archives: Marie’s Gold

This meme hits me to the core of how I feel about a sisterhood of women. If collaborating with one woman makes a situation better, imagine collaborating with a team of women who all have your back. I’m so blessed to have many women in my life who love me and support me and lift me up high! Our souls truly are joined and we see the best in each other. We accept each others tears and vulnerability…and of course, we have great laughter too.

Hello! I love hearing about your side of the world and sharing mine with you too! This entry comes from some questions from Cee’s Photogrpahy challenge of SHARE YOUR WORLD (SYW)

HERE ARE MY ANSWERS

What is your favorite cheese? All cheeses are my friend! I have some favorites, but I am still positive I haven’t found all my favorites yet. Some great contenders are: Havarti – great in ANY sauce or stand alone. My brother puts it in Chicken Fried Steak and gravy. I like Asiago in Italian dishes…and an easily accessed favorite of course is always cheddar – sharp, medium or mild. I’m all for trying new cheese, especially while traveling!

Are you left or right handed?

I’m left handed. Back when I grew up left handed, it was considered evil to be left handed, and I would get my hand tied behind my back. When I ate at the dinner table, I had to eat at the end so as not to distract or interrupt anyone else. Because I wanted to sit somewhere else, I learned to eat right handed. There were no left handed scissors, so I learned to do more precise things like cutting with scissors or a knife with my right hand.

But all sports and writing are left handed.

Do you prefer exercising your mind or your body? How frequently do you do either?

I know it’s important to exercise my body, and I enjoy it. But I PREFER to exercise my mind! I DEVOUR every piece of information I can get – books, video, conversations with people.

Complete this sentence: Hot days are … GREAT! I enjoy the energy and warmth of the sun

Optional Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Having time to celebrate twenty years of marriage to my best friend. We had alone and quiet time from the busyness of our lives. It was awesome!

Today I wanted to talk to you about some important advice given to me 20 years ago for a language class and how it applies to real life.

You see, we think we have to KNOW all the answers; or understand all that is going on or even want to control the outcome or situation of something happening in our lives. When in reality, if we sit back and are present, enjoying the moment it’s so much better. We are neither worrying about the past nor anxious of the future. There’s fun in the not knowing what’s going. Really! Sometimes things come out even better than we imagined!

CASE IN POINT:

It was HAPPY THURSDAY! Do you get it? Happy Thursday, and so it required a skip in my step because it was a day I always looked forward to – an element of surprise. It was my adventure to be willing to live with vagueness.

When I got to the door, it had a sign on it that read: Enter my Queen. A rush of adrenaline pumped my veins! I could hardly contain the excitement. First, a girl mostly always likes the idea of being “Queen for a day,” second, Joe had consistently been reciprocating SURPRISES with me. One of the few guys who had.

Thoughts of : “I wonder what he’s up to? Where will we go?” entered my head.

And more thoughts: “I do have to teach tomorrow, and I need to stop by the art store on the way. I wonder how that will work with the plans?”

As I slowly entered the door, I noticed rose petals trailed to the bedroom.

Now, I KNOW what you might be thinking is my surprise…but wait for it…wait for it.On the bed was a Queen’s costume with a note that asked me to get dressed and wait until he arrived. Oooooooh!

The dress had glittery gold and lace and it was gorgeous! Annnnnd. It fit. I waited with anticipation when there was a knock on the door, when he opened it up he was handsomely dressed as a king and had a blind fold in his hand. Yes! A big surprise awaits!

His sister was at the front door and was dressed as a chauffeur. Anticipation was building inside me. I felt I could explode at any moment! I chose to stay present. As I entered the “limo,” he blindfolded me. ooh…yeah…more excitement building. Out of curiosity, more than a need to know, I turned on all my senses to try and detect where I was…and then came the familiar railroad track thump and then a road bump, bump. We were at Rosemary’s!

When he took the blindfold off, I was right, we were at Rosemary’s. He took my hand to cross a small bridge over a Koi pond and into the tea house. I had created one of our first surprises here, full of very fond memories. Joe was recreating our date, complete with a specially made dinner, great conversation, and Yanni playing in the background, finishing it off with.a reading of a children’s book, the Table where the Rich People Sit.

Man, I LOVE this man! How he went to such detail to recreate the whole event. As we were crossing the bridge, he stopped in the middle and got down on one knee. Again I was thinking: What’s happening? Is this what I think it is? Is he ready? Am I ready?

He was fumbling around in his tights searching for something because he wasn’t used to wearing such garb.

And then out burst forth a shiny gem full of love and promise.

Fast forward to today: What if I was trying to control the outcome or wanted to know right now what was going to happen? What if I stayed stuck in the worry I had a lesson to teach tomorrow and had to figure out a way to get to the art store now?

Some of this story might have lost its charm because I would have either the energy of frantic or worry, instead of being present and in the moment, enjoying what is happening.

So I have been very blessed with the lesson of “Being willing to live with vagueness, and that is only one example.

What would be richer or deeper in your life if you were willing to live with vagueness?

Many people can’t wait to be “rid” of 2016, and while I think there was so much of 2016 that broke my heart and brought me to my knees, especially the loss of so many dear ones, I know that much was learned, even with the loss and the trials and tribulations. Without them, I may not have been in gratitude for the greatness in my life, or I may have missed a valuable lesson. For every thing, there is a season and a reason.

I will especially miss my brother Joey and my brother-in-law John..but these lessons taught me to love my family fiercely and keep on making memories!

When I closed the door on teaching, I was excited, and I was devasted at the loss of an identity…but the release of that, allowed me to open many new doors, including travel! I got to witness the beautiful faces of Indian people who look at you deeply to your soul and started my world sisterhood with 20 year old women who invited me to go to Poland…I got to play the drums with the kids and teach them hand games and bring much needed supplies.

and then I got to travel to Africa with Joe and feel my soul burst open wide! And extended my sisterhood to Africa with women who loved me and enfolded me into their community without a word…we connected heart to heart…and then of course, I got to fall in love with the kids around the world too…telling stories and playing games and yes, playing drums and singing! And of course, nothing is complete without a Safari to witness all of God’s wonders.

I’m still teaching, but in ways I never imagined. I get to bring out the gold in people, especially young people. I love that!

I don’t know what 2017 holds for me, but I am ELATED to see all that it holds and reveals to me and me BEING me and giving my contribution. I am truly blessed.